The Alvin Show

Another dumb remake of a children's cartoon:

Alvin and the Chipmunks:

I kind of enjoyed the Alvin and the Chipmunks cartoons as a kid. They were dumb, but fun. But I can't say the same for the movie. They've tried so hard to update and modernize the characters that it just doesn't have the same heart. All you have to do is take one look at the CG chipmunks to know that it isn't going to be very good. Everything in the film tries to be flashy and cool, but instead comes off as kind of dumb. It panders to the lowest common denominator. Which gets old pretty fast.

The scoring:

Writing:
The jokes aren't particularly funny. The plot is completely over the top ridiculous and the characters are flimsy, one dimensional jokes. 0.4/1

Directing:
The pacing is decent. The visual style is so so. Sometimes there's just a little too much in the way of flashy moves. 0.5/1

Acting:
The vocal work as the Chipmunks is just kind of bland. I enjoy Justin Long as an actor, but I'm not sure he was right for Alvin. Jason Lee does the best with what he's given. David Cross had no hope. 0.6/1

Technical:
The chipmunks look ok most of the time, but there are places where the CGI is not up to par. Not great work. 0.5/1

History:
Other than bastardizing a cherished memory for some people, not much. 0.3/1

Entertainment:
There's the odd moment of entertainment. But not many. 0.5/1

Misc.:
0.1 for the "Hula Hoop" song. I've always kind of enjoyed it.

Overall: 2.9/6.8

Pretty horrible stuff.

Comments

[Beenzzz]

Yep, it was a pretty bad movie. I don't think I'd ever like to see it again.